Wattle Day

OK, I know I've missed the official Wattle Day by 'that much' but yesterday I was in the Brisbane Ranges National Park and the wattles were flowering in massed beauty everywhere.

Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha

The most prolific is Acacia pycnantha Golden Wattle. It lined every road we travelled and is spread throughout the National Park. It's Australia's floral emblem.

Another common wattle is the Myrtle Wattle Acacia myrtifolia. It has a shorter habit than the Golden Wattle and are often growing beneath them. One of the easiest way to identify them is to look at the leaves to see if there is a gland on one edge. In the photo below you can see this in the leaf at bottom left. I have to admit I'm just a little bit biased against Myrtle Wattle just because they look untidy. I know. I'm working on it and may need to consult a therapist.

Acacia myrtifolia Myrtle Wattle

There is another wattle I'm ambivalent about. Acacia paradoxa Hedge Wattle is very pretty but it is also very spiky and it can be a bit weedy. Hence the common name 'hedge' I suspect.

Acacia paradoxa Hedge Wattle

Another wattle I found was the Ploughshare Wattle Acacia gunnii. This wattle is a low shrub with pale flowers and the leaves are a really interesting shape.

Acacia gunnii Ploughshare Wattle.

There are about 12 more species of wattles that have been recorded in the Brisbane Ranges. I'll have to go back for another look and try not to get distracted by orchids.

Gold Dust Wattle

In recognition of Wattle Day I'm posting about a plant in my garden.

We had been away from home for a month or so and when we returned the first thing I saw in my garden was the Gold Dust Wattle Acacia acinacea in full bloom.

Gold Dust Wattle Acacia acinacea

Gold Dust Wattle grows naturally north of Geelong in the Brisbane Ranges National Park but I bought my plant in a nursery and I don't know its provenance. The flowers are balls of yellow, the stems angled and flattened and many of the phyllodes (leaves) have a beak set to one side of the point. My plant is growing next to a driveway in sandy loam but the foliage is quite soft and it can be pruned back without harming the plant. It is about a metre high and I think it will grow a bit higher yet. Apparently they live for several decades.

Angled stems and beaked phyllodes

Insect on branchlet

A good spot to put down roots

After the fire the stony ground was bare, even twelve months later, on Buckshot Track in the Brisbane Ranges. There is almost no soil between the buckshot - small ironstone gravel - and after a long and hot summer it's very dry and exposed. But this little seedling has found a haven. It's growing in the shelter and small amount of humus in the burnt lepidosperma clump and looks like it may survive to grow into a tree. It's a Black Wattle Acacia mearnsii.

An anniversary

It's a year since I started this blog. I thought it would be an occasional blog, maybe putting up a post every couple of weeks, but there are so many interesting things in the natural world to photograph and write about. Judging by comments received and number of visits there seem to be a few interested readers and that encourages me to keep on blogging. And I enjoy reading other nature blogs as well - especially those few that are written by Australians. I'd love to see a few more Aussies joining in.

One of the few plants flowering in the Brisbane Ranges last week was the Mitchell's Wattle Acacia mitchellii. It's a small shrub of the sandy heaths, mainly in the west of Victoria. I was surprised to see it flowering because it usually flowers July to January. The beautiful little globules are very pale - most wattle flowers are a brighter yellow. Once again I think I've managed to inadvertently photograph a creature lurking in the depths of a flower (front right). It blends in very well. Really I should take more time and really investigate the whole plant before rushing on.

A sticky tale

When I was young, and roaming free over the countryside with my friends, one of our favourite activities was climbing Black Wattles Acacia mearnsii. The one above, flowering last November, is relatively young. As they get older the branches bend and reach the ground and are big enough for a child to climb along.

There was a purpose to our clambering. We were after the wattle gum, the sap that oozes out of this particular species of wattle. When it's fresh the texture is like honey and it's taste not as sweet. If a little older the gum is still edible but gets stuck in your teeth. If it's very old leave it there because it's horrible. I've tasted it as an adult and can't see what the attraction was because it has no flavour at all. But we had a lot of fun.